Tag: D&I

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The 4 Keys to Being a Best-in-Class D&I Professional

“How can I do what you do?” asked a bright young woman on the phone one spring morning. She enthusiastically described how she’d studied and experienced various cultures and was inspired to do work that makes a difference.

She’d read some of my articles, saw me speak and felt a spark of connection. She wanted to turn her passion and values into a career, like I had. And because she was resourceful, she reached out for advice.

One of the joys of being a mid-career D&I professional is that I often get inquiries like this. One of the burdens, however, is providing a helpful response to new professionals facing a world that’s quite different from the early ’90s landscape I navigated, yet troublingly similar.

What’s different is our technology, our demographics, our polarized politics and a resurgence of overt white supremacy and bigoted violence. What’s the same is the lack of credibility many D&I professionals command relative to other professionals and organizational functions. I believe one of the reasons is insufficient rigor in developing the necessary skillset to garner results that matter and exude excellence.

Here are four keys that will equip D&I professionals at any career level to embody excellence and establish themselves as best-in-class D&I professionals, indispensable to those we serve.

Identify and live from your personal “business case.” I’m struck by D&I practitioners who have no substantive answer to the question: “Why do you do this work? (How do you benefit?)” “New school” D&I isn’t just about helping others. It’s about creating a world that works better for more of us and attaining meaningful results that matter. Best-in-class professionals work from their heart, mind and soul, and have personal skin in the game. Being grounded in the heart balances intellectual rigor, and adds depth, integrity and authenticity to our work. A personal business case provides motivation and inspiration when we’re weary. My personal business case is that from a very young age I experienced and witnessed firsthand how traits over which people have no control (sex, race, nationality and social class) can cause other people to treat them as less than they are, thwarting their happiness and ability to contribute.

A personal business case requires not just knowledge of self, but clarity of values and vision. I deeply value integrity, authenticity, excellence, connection and expression. My vision is a world where everyone has access to all the knowledge and resources necessary to live their happiest, healthiest life, contributing their brilliance for personal fulfillment and collective benefit. I stand for a world where we get out of each other’s way — and our own way.

Do your personal work. Having personal skin in the D&I game and caring about people means that the work can be emotionally triggering and exhausting. Those of us who are especially sensitive and empathic can experience second-hand trauma or be re-traumatized by interpersonal dynamics in a workshop or workplace. I’ve witnessed how a facilitator can injure workshop participants through ineffective behaviors driven by their unresolved anger or guilt. I’ve seen how leaders driving organizational D&I initiatives can subvert their own efforts through counterproductive behaviors stemming from exhaustion, mistrust or shame. Many of us who do D&I work do it because we (or a loved one) have been wounded in some way. Do not allow the impact of this important work to be diluted or tainted by you trying to resolve your personal pain through the work alone.

There’s a saying: “If you don’t heal what hurt you, you bleed on those who didn’t cut you.” While it’s true that if we all waited to tackle D&I work until we were fully healed that the work would never happen, it’s critical to be on a path of personal growth. Become intimately acquainted with (and honest about) your motivations, triggers, weaknesses and sore spots. Build keen self-awareness and be in ongoing curious dialogue with yourself about what’s going on with you and how you can develop. Build your emotional intelligence and resilience. If you’re a facilitator, hone your ability to self-manage, and develop a superpower around being present, relaxed and extremely attentive to the subtleties of human communication. Engage difficult questions — in the classroom and the field — with curiosity and courage. Establish healthy boundaries in all areas of life, practice radical self-care, and invest in your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness. And forgive yourself for your shortcomings and bad days!

Be highly competent in multiple areas of D&I. D&I professionals who seek to be expert trusted advisers should be able to effectively answer a broad array of “diversity” questions. At the very least, you should have sophisticated knowledge about the history, terminology and practical applications of: (1) race/ethnicity (including racism), (2) sex and gender (including sexism), (3) LGBTQQIA+, (4) disability, and (5) major local racial/ethnic/cultural groups (in the U.S.: African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans). You must also be well-informed about the growing body of research establishing the organizational business case for diversity and the myriad tangible benefits of inclusion. You should know the basics of the latest brain science that impacts our current understanding of bias and interpersonal communication. You should read widely, listen to podcasts, attend conferences and lectures and stay informed about local and global current events. As a bonus, become familiar with the decades of theory and knowledge amassed in intercultural communication, a field similar to D&I.

Be highly competent in an area outside of D&I. Best-in-class D&I professionals are well-versed in at least one additional area outside D&I, such as organization development, leadership development, human resources, professional coaching, training facilitation/design, adult learning, assessment, business administration or international management. Many have first-hand leadership experience, have worked abroad, and/or speak more than one language. These skills equip the D&I consultant to accurately assess a client’s current state, identify strategic opportunities, and make impactful recommendations (read this article for more guidelines for consultants). They also equip the D&I facilitator to establish credibility, better understand their workshop participants and serve them where they are.

“Some think my standards are too high,” I told my caller that morning. “It’s true these are high expectations,” I added, “but they’re not unreasonable.” No one says the professional standards set for attorneys or accountants are too high, and we’re just as necessary. Expecting anything less than these four keys from D&I professionals is to diminish the quality of our expertise and its crucial importance to the success of organizations and the societies they shape and inhabit.

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When Dealing With D&I Naysayers, Avoid These 3 Pitfalls

It’s tempting to focus on the naysayer. It’s easy to give those loud voices of dissent all our attention. It’s not our fault.Susana Rinderle, New School D&I

We evolved to be somewhat anxious and pessimistic since hedging our bets and lowering our risks kept our ancestors safe. We focus on the loud voices of dissent because they might be right, and heeding their warnings might avert disaster. But sometimes the naysayers are simply afraid, and not only is there no significant danger in the valley beyond, its abundance could sustain us for generations to come.

When it comes to leading diversity and inclusion efforts in an organization, there are three major pitfalls in the way D&I champions treat D&I naysayers.

  1. Allowing efforts to be distracted or derailed by the naysayers. Change theorists have found about 14 percent of people are “early adopters” who immediately jump on board with a new idea, while up to 15 percent resist. D&I changemakers who focus most of their attention on converting the small minority of D&I naysayers allow early adopters to languish with no direction for their crusading energy. Meanwhile, the undecided or neutral majority stays neutral — or worse, begins to be swayed by the naysayers. Either way, precious time and opportunities are lost.
  2. Ignoring the naysayers’ voices completely. Depending on who the naysayers are and what they’re saying, ignoring their voices completely can stall or destroy progress. When I was the internal D&I changemaker in a former organization, I made a critical error by trying to minimize and circumvent a naysayer who also happened to be the chief human resources officer. While his political influence was waning, and that of my C-suite boss was on the rise, the CHRO still had the ear of the CEO, and he was the ultimate decision maker regarding personnel policies and the training and leadership development department. If I had been more strategic in my relationship building and more patient with the pace of power shifts in my organization, we could have gained traction more quickly and I could have increased my credibility and influence more easily.
  3. Dismissing or shutting down naysayers during trainings. An unskilled facilitator may minimize the questions or opinions of a person pushing back on D&I concepts during training, communicating indirectly (sometimes directly) that their point of view is less important than others in the room. The facilitator may try to convince the naysayer to “get on board,” wasting precious time proselytizing to the D&I naysayer while neglecting the session objectives and ignoring other participants’ learning needs. Both tactics are ineffective because they are not inclusive behaviors and therefore lack integrity with D&I principles. The first is disrespectful to the naysayer; the second is disrespectful to the entire group. Both are unwise because D&I naysayers are often bright, caring people who raise valid concerns, or important fears that must be taken seriously and addressed to ensure the success of the initiative, especially if the naysayer is a major stakeholder!

To avoid these three pitfalls, implement the following best practices for easier, quicker D&I success:

  • Harness the enthusiasm of the early adopters. Give formal and informal D&I champions something to do right away. Make sure these tasks are meaningful and aligned with broader strategic D&I goals so you don’t waste energy and lose momentum.
  • Focus on converting the undecided middle. Harnessing the early adopters will do much of this work for you. In addition, determine what the barriers are for the undecided. Are they overworked? Tired of flavor-of-the-month initiatives, waiting to see if this one is for real? Unsure why the organization is launching a D&I initiative? Unsure what it has to do with their job? Invest in internal marketing and communication to ensure your messaging is simple, accurate, inspirational, aligned and addressing the barriers of the undecided. Tell people what to expect, why it matters, and how they can contribute. Also, give change time!
  • Listen to, and involve, the D&I naysayers. This may be especially difficult for D&I changemakers if the naysayers represent a demographic or political affiliation the changemakers find difficult or threatening. But naysayers typically express their concerns because they care about the organization and want to make a difference, and inclusion includes everyone. Listen openly and with curiosity to their concerns — one-on-one, in training sessions, and in meetings. Role model inclusive leadership by checking your assumptions and seeking to understand. The naysayer may give you the gift of identifying a misperception that can be clarified, a valid concern that must be addressed, or a blind spot you missed. I’ve found that some naysayers become powerful allies once they’ve been heard, taken seriously and included in problem solving.

Leverage the skills and energy of your natural champions, focus most of your efforts on the undecided middle and don’t ignore the power of the D&I naysayer. Because while any change requires fired-up champions equipped with the proper tools, there are few with more zeal than the convert!

Susana Rinderle is a principal consultant with Korn Ferry, and a coach, speaker, author and diversity and inclusion expert. The postings on this website represent my own personal views and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Korn Ferry International or any other organization with which I may be affiliated. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.

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Should White People Do Diversity Work?

WF_WebSite_BlogHeaders-12As a multilingual, culturally and racially ambiguous woman who’s been doing some form of diversity work for almost 25 years, I occasionally find myself having awkward conversations with potential clients about my identity. These conversations involve questions like, “Are you diverse?” or “Wait, you’re white?” or statements like “Thank you, but we’re looking for a ‘diverse’ person.” Given the growing attention that race is getting in the broader media, it’s time to frankly discuss an underlying question that often plagues the diversity and inclusion field: Should white people do diversity work?

I say yes. Here’s why:

  • When only people of color do diversity work, this gives the false impression that diversity is only about, and for, people of color.D&I is about, and for, everyone, without exception. Multiple studies have shown that diversity, plus inclusiveness, is essential to excellence, innovation and high performance — including one demonstrating that the mere presence of people of color improves group results.
  • White people are the ones that most need diversity work, and we tend to most trust and believe other white people.Whites are still the numerical majority in the U.S., and we’re the disproportionate majority holding power positions in government, business, education, health care and media. We are the ones that need to change the way we do things, and because humans evolved over millennia to function in small groups of similar people, our brains — like it or not — lend more credibility to people who look like us.

Beyond the question of whether white people should do diversity work is an even more provocative question — can we? I’ve heard about, and witnessed, situations where diversity work conducted by white people went wrong in ways that were ineffective at best, and horribly damaging at worst. To this question, I say it depends on the following:

  • What brings the white person to diversity work?For people of color, diversity work is usually intensely personal. If a white person comes to D&I with a purely intellectual mindset or a goal to change or help someone else, they might miss the mark. If they jumped on the bandwagon a couple years ago when unconscious bias training became chic, they might not have the commitment or broad knowledge necessary to be effective. Like many white allies, I come to the work from a decades-long commitment to dismantling racism because of painful childhood incidents I both experienced and witnessed. While my pain doesn’t equal that of a person of color’s daily experience, and I acknowledge I have the white privilege of walking away any time I want, I’m dedicated to doing my part to prevent more people from having their humanity denied and gifts crushed just because of the bodies they inhabit.
  • How much does the white person know, own and use their various identities?Every human being has multiple identities that situate them both inside, and outside, power structures. Straight black men face racism, but enjoy male and heteronormative privilege. I enjoy white privilege, but have faced sexism and classism. Some of my white colleagues face homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia or ableism. White people doing effective diversity work own, check and use their white privilege for positive change. They step into and out of their various identities to connect with diverse people, or to make powerful points during effective diversity training.
  • How much personal work has the white person done?The most effective D&I professionals of any race or ethnicity do ongoing personal work. They build awareness of their biases and privilege and actively mitigate their harmful effects. They strive to know their personal and cultural history, strengths and weaknesses. They constantly seek and incorporate feedback, even if they don’t like how it’s offered. They build their emotional resilience, emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills. They strive to be in integrity with the work, even when they’re not working. They are curious, good humored and nimble with people. They take care of themselves and have healthy boundaries. This is a tall order for anyone, but especially for white people because doing personal work also requires unlearning what we’ve been taught: that we know everything, that we have a right to always speak and take up space, and that others must cater to our feelings. White people doing effective D&I work aren’t perfect, but embody the changes most want to see in our workforce and leadership.
  • What will best meet the needs or goals of your organization or team? I speak Spanish better than most U.S.-born Latinos and pass for Hispanic all the time. I’ve lived, worked and traveled extensively abroad, including in developing nations. I’ve experienced many challenges because of my nondominant identities, many of which are invisible. I can present D&I concepts in an engaging way that creates lasting breakthroughs. Yet, none of that matters if what will best serve an organization is a person with a brown or black face, or the lived experience of a person of color in the U.S. Part of being a white person doing diversity work is to acknowledge that much of the time, no matter what qualifications or street cred we bring, we’re not always the right person for the job, and we’re not entitled to dominate the D&I field. If indeed we’re here to co-create a world that works for everyone, the least we can do when we hear “no” is to move on and be grateful yet another person of color is hearing “yes.”
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Unconscious Bias Training Is Anti-Racism Training

WF_WebSite_BlogHeaders-12Unconscious bias training is in. It’s neat; it incorporates lots of cool new science. It’s sexy; it incorporates lots of cool images and eye opening exercises. It’s trendy; all the cool kids are doing it. And it’s safe; no one talks about racism.

That’s where the legitimate criticism comes in. As with other “in” diversity topics of the past, some raise concern that unconscious bias training won’t make a difference. It’s another fad that doesn’t address real issues or lead to meaningful change. Straight white men will go to these workshops, learn everyone’s biased (“See! It’s not just me; they’re biased too!”), learn it’s unconscious (“See! It’s not my fault; it’s unconscious!”) and change nothing.

I agree that there is this potential, as well as the danger of seeing little-to-no return on investment for the millions of dollars spent on such training. This degrades the reputation of diversity and inclusion as nice-to-have window dressing instead of the results-driven, value-add, must-have that it is — or should be.

There’s another possibility: use unconscious bias training to shift inequitable power dynamics along lines of race and other identity differences. This requires courage, clarity, leadership and the inclusion of the following seven elements:

1. Always make the business and results case for diversity and inclusion up front.This provides essential context and increases training participant interest and buy in. Research by scholars like Scott E. Page, James Surowiecki and Nancy Adler have shown the superior results created by diverse groups compared with individuals and nondiverse groups, but only if there is inclusion and effective management of diversity.

2. Encourage curiosity and critical thinking about common collective biases. The research on implicit, or unconscious, bias shows clear tendencies. Biases aren’t random or equally distributed among groups. Overwhelmingly, more people hold more negative unconscious biases about people of color; women; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; and people with disabilities than they do about white people, men, straight and “able bodied” folks. Also, being a member of a group doesn’t inoculate someone against carrying negative unconscious bias toward their own group. Many African Americans carry negative unconscious biases toward African Americans, women toward women, and so on.

  • This is about racism. Racism is not individual acts of meanness toward someone who looks different — that’s prejudice. Racism is about ways we collectively assign value, make assumptions and distribute resources inequitably along racial lines defined by physical traits. This process is driven by unconscious biases — databases in our reptilian brain that come from centuries of inherited messages about members of other racial groups as well as current messages our brains capture from our environment and catalog outside our awareness. If left unconscious and unchecked, these biases express in our decisions and behavior, which have disproportionately negative effects on people of color. The word “racism” need never be uttered to facilitate curiosity and awareness of this important feature of unconscious bias.

3. Address the inequitable effect of negative and positive biases on members of different groups. Anyone can find themselves on the receiving end of meanness or prejudice. But not everyone finds themselves getting the short end of the unconscious bias (racism) stick. Our unconscious biases and the resulting behaviors don’t affect others equitably. The multiple positive biases toward whites serve them way more than any positive biases toward people of color. The multiple negative biases toward people of color harm them way more than the few negative biases toward white people.

  • Try this for yourself: Make lists for each of those four categories. Notice how easy or difficult that was for each, and how long each list is. Notice how much or how little the qualities on each of those lists affect the material quality of life for the majority in that category.
  • This is also about racism. Left unconscious and unchecked, our negative unconscious biases have disproportionately negative impacts on people of color. The word “racism” need not be stated to make this important point. This discussion may take place during exploration of “insider-outsider” groups, which form along all aspects of human difference.

4. Allow participants to feel some degree of unease. Guilt is healthy, but shame is not. Guilt — highlighting a gap between a person’s intent and impact, between their values and behavior — can be a powerful motivator for change. It’s powerful and generative as long as they stay out of shame — feeling like a bad or wrong person for having the gap.

5. Focus on behavior, not thoughts.It’s not effective to tell people to constantly monitor their minds for biased thoughts, or imply this is the way to go. Such a message increases anxiety, guilt and a sense of powerlessness that doesn’t lead to creativity or more effective behavior. It’s also neither possible nor effective to focus on thought policing — it’s exhausting, and there are always mental processes operating outside our awareness. Instead, focus training participants on noticing their thoughts (with humor, curiosity and compassion), then disrupting their behavior by slowing down and choosing actions more deliberately. Unconscious bias only harms others or gets in the way of results when it translates into an action that has an inequitable or ineffective outcome — thoughts alone are relatively harmless.

6. Encourage responsibility and commitment to concrete actions.Learning about unconscious bias does not, and should not, let people off the hook — especially those who benefit more from positive biases and are harmed less by negative ones. Any unconscious bias training should include a discussion of the handful of research-based methods to reduce unconscious biases — total elimination of unconscious bias is neither possible nor desirable) and mitigate their undesirable effects. Training should also help participants identify specific effective behaviors and commit to implementation.

7. Follow up. Follow up. Follow up.Behavior change doesn’t come automatically after a workshop. Change is challenging and requires focused attention, opportunity and time to form and practice new habits, a culture that supports and reinforces the change, and accountability.

Racism — both our past history and current reality — shows up in our deep, collective unconscious biases. Overwhelmingly, these unconscious biases enhance white people and diminish people of color. They then express in our decisions and behaviors, reinforcing them in our brains. Disrupting such actions and putting systems in place to correct for our biases — without getting caught up in shame, guilt or silence — will, over time, allow for more diversity, inclusion and equity in the world and workplaces.

As diversity, inclusion and equity increase, our collective brain database about who belongs where and who has worth will shift. This will reduce our brains’ tendency to make snap decisions about other humans based on limited data that is inaccurate and inequitable.

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Four Steps to Achieve Inclusiveness

WF_WebSite_BlogHeaders-12The new year is an ideal time to reflect on past triumphs and tribulations, and set the course for the days and months to come. Thoughtful attention to language is a critical way we create reality and set the stage for D&I success (see this post on the term “cultural competence.”)  One way to do this is to turn the “I” of “inclusion” into “inclusiveness.” To some, inclusiveness may sound the same as inclusion, but inclusiveness offers a subtle one-degree shift from old ways of thinking and better orients your compass toward the wildly successful results that D&I offers.

Inclusion, while a necessary counterpart to diversity, is a noun. It implies a static state, a reachable endpoint. It suggests something that can be easily measured and recognized. It’s a diversity 1.0 concept that might be achieved through what I call the Skittles approach: ensuring we have a colorful mix — gathering some of those (color, race, gender, age, type, etc.), and a couple of those, and a few of those. Colorful mix equals done! However, diverse mixes don’t achieve superior results by themselves — in fact, the mix without effective communication and positive relationships gets us more of what we don’t want in organizations, and less of what we do (see Scott E. Page’s work).

Inclusiveness is also a noun, but its root — inclusive — is an adjective that describes a state of being. Inclusiveness implies a dynamic, changing state that’s a moving target. It’s a diversity 2.0 (or 3.0) concept in that achieving inclusiveness requires ongoing attention, monitoring and dialogue. It’s never completely done. Its measurement requires creativity and flexibility.

How would you measure and achieve inclusiveness? First, get super clear on your D&I goals. This helps prepare your organization for the journey. D&I is not just about the mix but about leveraging the mix and making it work effectively to generate more brilliance and excellence. That brilliance and excellence should yield measurable results the organization cares about. Quantifying the impact of D&I on those measurable results should be the goal.

Second, determine what’s getting in the way of employees and leaders doing their best work, bringing their full selves to work, and enthusiastically contributing their brilliance and excellence. Is it substandard onboarding and training? Is it a lack of accountability and integrity? Oppressive or unfair policies or practices? Ineffective leadership behaviors? Poorly managed stress or ineffective communication? A little of each? What is at the heart of these gaps?

Third, identify what’s already working. Organizations can unintentionally damage or destroy what’s working well while attempting to solve problems. Identify what’s working and keep doing those things!

Fourth, act, with measurable milestones and a system of accountability to ensure goals are reached on time. Also, remain flexible and creative. Since inclusiveness is a shifting state of being, the challenges, opportunities, strengths, demographics and market are moving targets that require constant monitoring and nimble responses.

Arguably, one could follow the same four steps and obtain similar results while calling it inclusion, but if your goal is inclusiveness — a shifting state of being where diverse people bring their brilliance and excellence to work and generate results beyond your wildest dreams — why not call it that?